Shoulder
by ValGrey02
Summary: MerDer Soulmate AU One Shot- being in a sleepless state, it's inevitable for Meredith to take a nap on the bus - but not on the shoulder of the person who happened to be her soulmate of all people.


**_This is my First One shot. my First of many Ine Shots i have i store. I Postponed my On going Story "Together Again" to write One shots. Check it Out!_**

 ** _SUMMARY:_**

 ** _in which you live in a world where everyone has a soulmate timer on their wrist, which keeps track of time from the moment you're born and only stops when you meet your soulmate._**

 **S H O U L D E R**

It's been three – no, maybefour– days since Meredith last slept properly.

She yawn into her sleeve as the bus to campus closes its doors and it starts up again to drive through its route. Once again she had spent another sleepless night hunched over her desk, working on her model that was due in a few days. As an architecture student, models and designs were practically due every week. Not to mention she also had to juggle other schoolwork from your other mandatory and elective classes. In order to keep up, she had to sacrifice sleep.

Because of that sacrifice, coffee inevitably became her best friend.

However it seemed like the effects of caffeine were taking slower than usual to kick in. Or maybe the effects were nonexistent for Mereduth now, she wonder as she yawn into the sleeve of her gray oversized cardigan (a closet staple and a favorite of hers). After all, she's drunk at least two cups of coffee for the past couple of days to help get her through her classes.

Meredith sleepily rub her eyes, stifling a groan.

 _Great, my body's rejecting my last resort to stay awake._

Sleep was possible – but with the work she had to complete that week, it was pretty much a luxury. The model for her studio class was due in four days and it was the only major project left that was due for the end of the month. But assuming her productivity rate was constant and there were no factors interfering with the completion of the project, she should be (hopefully) done by tomorrow.

Another yawn threatens to escape her lips and she immediately cover her mouth with her sleeve just as someone takes the empty seat beside her. As the bus doors close again and the drive continues, Meredith look out the window. The trip wasn't even halfway done yet. _A little nap wouldn't hurt, right?_

Her body seems to agree as her head leans on the glass of the windows and her eyelids immediately droop shut.

The sensation of someone gently shaking your shoulder slowly rouses her from her nap and a soft whine escapes her lips upon being woken up.

"Sorry to wake you up," a low voice murmurs softly. "But we're about to arrive on campus."

 _Arriving…?_ You didn't want to leave just yet…the glass was so soft and comfortable…

 _Wait…since when was glass soft?_

Meredith's eyes slowly flutter open and what greets her is the sun. Or rather, it's a grin so bright that it was like staring into the sun, belonging to a stranger. His face was close to hers that she could see how long his lashes were and how smooth his skin was.

She blinks furiously and it takes a moment for her to register the close proximity. After a heartbeat, she immediately jolt away from him in panic, banging her right elbow against the wall of the bus in the process.

"Ow…" She whimper, immediately clutching her elbow upon the impact.

The stranger looks concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" She blurt out, her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

There's a look of relief on the stranger's face, which turns into a bright grin. "I'm glad you're okay. You were sound asleep on my shoulder for a while so I was worried you weren't feeling well –"

"Wait…" She gape at him. "I was _what_?"

He shrugs nonchalantly, a smirk forming on his lips as he repeats himself. "You were asleep on my shoulder."

Her eyes widen in terror as She process his words. "Oh, god, I'msosorry."

Just as the words come out of her mouth, the bus pulls over to the university bus terminal and the doors open to allow the passengers to get off. The stranger flashes her another dazzling grin as he puts his backpack on and She hastily follow after the students leaving the bus.

The stranger's waiting for her under the awning of the bus terminal and she feel dread as she hurry over to quickly apologize. _Was he mad? Did i drool on him? Were i snoring?_ She had so many questions in her mind but she didn't want to know the answer to them. At all.

He quirks an eyebrow up at her and she takes a deep breath, the words spilling out of herr mouth. "Listen, I'm so sorry about falling asleep on you, please don't get mad, it was an accident, sorry again and bye!"

Before he can react, Meredith turn on her heels and hurry to the direction of the building where her first class was in.

Her hands fly to her cheeks and sure enough, they were burning. She sure hope as hell that she wouldn't have to see that stranger again and that he has her face erased from his memory. Meredith continue to speedily walk to class while rolling up the baggy sleeves of her cardigan out of habit. However, she freezes in herr tracks upon noticing something unusual on your non-dominant wrist.

The numbers on her soulmate timer had stopped. 22 years, 2 months, 3 hours, 30 minutes.The frozen numbers meant that she had her first meeting with her soulmate and she look around your surroundings.

 _Who?_ _It was probably that stranger on the bus! It should be right?_

She runs a hand through her hair. _It made sense, really (rather, it was the only thing that made sense)_ – everyone knew that the timers only stopped during your first meeting with your destined one. And the only person she met that morning was the person she was sitting beside (and slept on) during the bus ride to school.

Her heart starts to race furiously as she recall the bright smile of the boy who sat beside her.

Fridays meant that she only had world history at 8:30 and then she would be clear for the rest of the day.

Meredith sigh, plopping down on a seat all the way in the back of the lecture theatre and plugging in her laptop at a nearby outlet. Halfway through working on her model last night, she had forgotten to charge her laptop before heading out to class. This meant she had to steal someone's "unofficial" seat for the day just so she could use the outlet.

"Sorry for ruining the unofficial seating arrangement," she mutter as she type in her password.

"I don't really mind, since fate brought us together again."

She stops. And slowly look up at the sound of the voice, her eyes widening as she register whom it belonged to. It's the boy from the bus again, the very same one whose shoulder she had slept on and the one who caused het timer to stop. She gape at him as he plops down on the seat to your right. "What…are you doing here?"

He grins. "I'm in this class too. By the way, you're sitting on my 'unofficial' spot."

"Ah…"

He extends a hand out to her, smiling warmly. "I'm Derek, an education major. You are…?"

She shyly extend your hand out for a handshake, she ignores the tingle of electricily that shots through her body from the contact.

"I'm Meredith. Arthitecture Student."

"Meredith"

He said her name while smiling softly. Derek's eyes form half-moons when he beams at her and she can't help but feel a bit charmed at the way he smiles.

Derek gets settled in his seat in preparation for the lecture, taking out a sleek black laptop from his backpack, and she can't help but watch him from the corner of her eye. She didn't realize it in her earlier flustered state, but Derek was good-looking. _No, HOT._ He had thick black hair, perfectly styled, distinct features, toned body and his smile was endearing, dreamy. _That's right, he's McDreamy. My soulmate is McDreamy._ He was dressed in a gray bomber jacket, a plain white t-shirt, and dark wash jeans.

 _How on earth do you tell someone that you're their soulmate?_ She wanted to bring it up to Derek but she didn't know how. Not especially after what happened earlier that morning. Saying something like ' _I know I fell asleep on you earlier this morning, but we're soulmates'_ sounded kind of silly. She try to recall het friends' stories on their first meetings with their own soulmates, hoping to get an idea.

However, the sound of the professor speaking into the microphone to garner everyone's attention immediately makes her sit straighter in her seat, ready to take notes on her laptop on the Renaissance. As the slides appear on the projector, Derek leans a bit closer, startling her.

"By the way," he whispers in a low voice. "If you want to sleep…my shoulder's ready again."

Mereduth whip her head to his direction with reddened cheeks, her expression resembling a deer in headlights as she try to formulate a response. "W-wh-wha–"

Derek winks mischievously before returning his attention to the presentation.

Throughout the fifty-minute long lecture, Meredith couldn't help but occasionally glance at Derek from the corner of her eyes as she simultaneously listened to the lecture and mulled over how she were going to approach him upon the end of class. For her, it was hard to just approach somebody she believed to be her soulmate (even more when she add on the fact that she fell asleep on him).

Soon enough, the professor announces the end of class and everyone starts to pack up their belongings. Meredith zips up her laptop sleeve before stuffing it and the charger into the depths of her backpack, about to slide the straps on her shoulders when a cough from her right distracts her.

Derek's smiling down at her and she stares at him. "Yes?"

There's a mischievous glint in Derek's eyes that she didn't miss. "Well…don't you have something to say to me?"

"Um…" she pause. "I'm sorry for sleeping on your shoulder while on the bus this morning…?"

Derek bursts into laughter at her response, eyes forming half moons again. "Was that all? I swear you kept looking at me during class as if you wanted to say something important to me."

She blush. _Ah, he saw_. "Um…well…"

Derek watches her patiently as she try to put together the words she's been meaning to say all morning. Meredith stand up and take a deep breath, bracing herself as she look into his eyes. _Here goes nothing._ "I hope this doesn't sound weird and all and I did fall asleep on your shoulder today but my soulmate timer stopped and I think you're my soulmate."

It's silent save for the sound of the lecture theatre doors closing after the last person and she feel her heart thumping in her chest as a cheeky grin appears on his face. "Oh wow…I didn't expect my soulmate to be this cute."

Meredith feel her breath becoming lodged in her throat. "So…you knew?"

Derek nods, his expression softening. "I knew the moment your head was on my shoulder. That's why I wanted to talk to you when we got off the bus."

 _Ah…so that's why_.There's an indescribable feeling in her chest when she realize that her soulmate found her too and that he knew that she were his destined person. A relieved breathless laugh escapes her lips. The two of you had been apart for twenty-two years and the realization that she were finally face to face with Derek made her swell with so many emotions that she needed a moment to calm down. When she look up to meet his eyes once again, she notice that he's looking at you warmly.

Maybe something good did come out of falling asleep in the bus, she thinks as she finally speak up. "You know…I actually do have something to say to you."

"Oh?" Derek tilts his head to the side. "What is it?"

"Do…you want to get coffee with me? Right now?" Meredith looks up at him shyly, playing with the watch at her wrist "Er…if you don't have class, that is."

Derek's eyes crinkle once again as he beams at her and gives her a big McDreamy smile and she feel her heart skips a beat.

"I would love to."

00000000

 **So thats it, my first one shot! I hope you like it. Any thought? would you like some more? i have many One shots in store. So Follow, Read Review!**

 **Your Reviews are what keeps me writing more!**


End file.
